This Spud’s for You
The Care Committee will be sponsoring a Baked Potato Bar on Sunday, March 15th immediately after church. The cost is a mere $5.00 to load up a huge baked potato for lunch. Tickets are available from any Care Committee member.
Family Promise at Limona Chapel
We have been asked to support Limona Chapel, another United Methodist Church or our approximate size, meet their Family Promise commitments. Their next Family Promise week is March 22-29th, and they are looking for persons to fix and provide meals or to stay overnight with the homeless families.
In order to volunteer to help out, you must be trained. Family Promise training will be held on Monday, March 9th at Limona Chapel at 6:30 PM. If you have never been to Limona Chapel before, a caravan will leave our church that night at 6:00 PM.
The Family Promise program supports a few homeless families with children in the Greater Brandon area. The program helps families get back on their feet, find employment, manage their debts, and obtain a place to live. There are currently 11 churches involved in the program, and each church provides temporary living shelter for a week at a time. Each church involved in the program provides shelter 4-5 times a year.
Many of you have indicated an interest in Family Promise, but have noted that March 22-29th is not a good week for you. That’s understandable as it’s Spring Break week for many visitors to our area. However, you might want to still attend the training session—in order to find out what’s involved and how you can help in the future.
Limona Chapel is just north of Brandon Road. Go west on U. S. 60/Brandon Road past Lakewood Road. Limona Road is the street with the new Taco Bell on the corner.
Call Jack Findlay (626-9569) or Mike Plett (349-9000) for more information about Family Promise.
Time to Order Your Easter Lilies
With the start of the Lenten season, it’s time to order your Easter lilies. Each plant will cost $7.50, paid in advance. Use the special form in your Sunday bulletin or order them in the church office, but they must be ordered by Wednesday, March 25th. The form allows you to order lilies in honor or in memory of special persons that were impactful in your life. Take this opportunity to brighten Easter morning.
Manly Man Yard Sale Coming April 18th
The RUMC United Methodist Men are planning to hold their annual “Manly Man” yard sale on Saturday, April 18th from 7:00 AM until 1:00 PM. They are looking for donations of tools, power tools, recreational equipment, yard furniture and collectibles.
If you have some old tools, an old fishing rod, a set of golf clubs, an Adirondack chair, a boat or a raft, or even a set of old baseball cards, we would like to turn your item into treasure for the church. If you would like to make a donation, contact Jack Findlay (813)626-9569 or drop off your donation any Wednesday through Saturday morning and ask for Joe Cornell.
“Imagine No Malaria” Campaign
The Florida Conference’s “Imagine No Malaria” campaign is now in full swing. Our church has a goal of raising $1000 for this important initiative in 2015. To make your donation just mark “INM” on your offering envelope. If every family in our congregation would donate just $10, we could easily reach our goal.
A Need for New Tellers
Karen Stowe and Jetty Miller are looking for new tellers to help process offerings after Sunday services. They would like to have enough tellers trained so that each volunteer would be needed one Sunday a month. Contact Karen or the church office if you can assist.
Spring Ahead on Saturday
Don’t forget that next Sunday, March 8th marks the beginning of Daylight Savings Time. Before you go to bed on Saturday, remember to set your clocks ahead one hour. That way, you’ll be able to make Sunday services on time.
Sunday, March 8th is also “New Members Sunday”. If you haven’t already spoken to our pastor but would like to become a new member of our church, please contact him right away.
Bible Passage of the Week
Obeying God Rather Than Man
The apostles were brought before the council where the high priest confronted them: “In no uncertain terms, we demanded that you not teach in this name. And look at you! You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. And you are determined to hold us responsible for this man’s death.”
Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than humans! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God has exalted Jesus to his right side as leader and savior so that he could enable Israel to change its heart and life and to find forgiveness for sins. We are witnesses of such things, as is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
Acts 5:27-32 (CEB)
Calendar of Events
Monday, March 2
United Methodist Women. Library,
7:00 PM
United Methodist Men. Crichton Fellowship Hall, 7:00 PM
Tuesday, March 3
Trustees Meeting. Library, 6:30 PM
Wednesday, March 4
Free Spaghetti Dinner. Crichton Fellowship Hall, 5:30 PM
Thursday, March 5—Friday, March 6
Real Ideas Conference. Van Dyke UMC, 17030 Lakeshore Road, Lutz, Florida.
Sunday, March 8
Daylight Savings Time Begins. Don’t forget to “Spring Ahead”.
New Member Sunday. Sanctuary, 10 AM
Monday, March 9
Family Promise Training. Limona Village Chapel, 408 Limona Road, Brandon, Florida, 6:30 PM (Cars leave church parking lot at 6:00 PM)
Tuesday, March 10
Church Council. Library, 7:00 PM
Sunday, March 15
One Great Hour of Sharing. Sanctuary, 10:00 AM
Potato Bake. Crichton Fellowship Hall, 11:15 AM
Saturday, April 18
“Manly Man” Yard Sale. Crichton Hall, 7:00 AM-1:00 PM.
8002 U. S. Highway 301 South, Riverview, FL 33578 813-677-5995
Service Times:
9:00 AM -- Faith Groups for All Ages
(Sunday School)
10:00 AM-- Worship Service
Rev. Merritt Waters, Pastor
Here at Riverview First United Methodist Church, it is our mission to win people to Christ, to train believers to become disciples, and to send disciples to impact our community and the world for Jesus Christ.
Download the March, 2015 BELL Newsletter from this link.
RUMC Launches Online Giving
Riverview First United Methodist Church is excited to announce that you can now manage your giving online! Giving online is easy and allows you to set up automatic recurring contributions and view your complete online giving history from anywhere you have access to the Internet. Or you can enter one-time contributions from the internet or by smart phone.
To get started, simply follow these easy steps:
- Click on the Online Giving button below. This will take you to our church’s online giving webpage.
- Click on our Create Profile button on that webpage.
- Follow the onscreen instructions to create an online profile and to schedule your recurring or one-time contributions.
We also offer a mobile app version of our online giving page. Now, you can give anytime using your smart phone or tablet. Simply scan the image found in your Sunday bulletin or monthly Bell Newsletter using your device’s QR code reader.
